Andrew Fenelon , Ph.D.

Andrew Fenelon is assistant professor of public policy and sociology and an affiliate faculty member of the Population Research Institute. A sociologist and demographer, Fenelon studies health disparities, population health, policies and health, and methods. He joins Penn State from the Department of Health Services Administration in the School of Public Health where he was assistant professor and acting associate director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland.

Fenelon’s past research has examined race/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in health in the United States, immigrant health and mortality, and cigarette smoking's impact on U.S. life expectancy. His current research addresses the effects of HUD housing assistance on health, health care access, and neighborhood attainment in the U.S. using the recent linkage of HUD administrative records to the National Health Interview Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This work highlights the significant health and economic benefits of receiving housing assistance and demonstrates the potential for social policies to leverage the social determinants of health to reduce health disparities.